Chapter 8 - THE FIRST WIFE
We found her on the private island.
Her name was Claire.
She had disappeared twelve years earlier.
Everyone believed she was dead.
She wasn't.
She had been watching Voss for years.
And she knew everything.
“You were his first wife,” I said.
Claire nodded.
“He married me for the same reason he married you.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“To test me.”
I frowned.
“He wanted to know whether his victims would fight.”
I looked at David.
Claire continued.
“He selected women with military, intelligence, or law-enforcement backgrounds.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed people capable of surviving the archive.”
I froze.
“The archive?”
Claire nodded.
“Each wife was forced to recover one piece.”
“And you?”
“I recovered the first.”
She opened a metal box.
Inside was a photograph.
A woman stood beside Voss.
I recognized her.
My own mother.
I stared.
“That can't be.”
Claire nodded.
“She was the architect.”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
David looked confused.
“Then why did she disappear?”
Claire answered:
“Because she discovered what Voss intended to do with the network.”
“What?”
“Sell it.”
“To whom?”
Claire looked toward the ocean.
“Anyone who paid enough.”
I suddenly understood.
The network had never been patriotic.
It had always been profitable.
Voss didn't serve governments.
Governments served Voss.
Then Claire handed me a second photograph.
My mother.
Holding a baby.
I stared.
“That isn't me.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
David looked at the photograph.
“Who is the baby?”
Claire whispered:
“Voss's daughter.”
I looked up.
“Who?”
Claire smiled sadly.
“You.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Your mother wasn't your biological mother.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
“She adopted you after your parents were killed.”
“My parents?”
“Voss's enemies.”
I looked at David.
Everything I believed about my childhood was collapsing.
Claire continued.
“You were never chosen because of your military record.”
“Then why?”
“Because Voss knew exactly who you were.”
I whispered:
“The daughter of his enemy.”
Claire nodded.
“And the only person capable of exposing him.”
Then a helicopter appeared over the island.
Voss had found us.
Claire looked at me.
“You have one choice.”
“What?”
“Finish what your mother started.”
I looked toward the approaching helicopter.
“How?”
Claire handed me the final key.
“Destroy the archive.”
“And the evidence?”
“Already public.”
I understood.
The network had to die.
So did the power it gave them.
I looked at David.
“Ready?”
May you like
He nodded.
“Always.”
